“Telephone, telegraph, tell a woman”
– Estée Lauder
Back When We Bottled Glamour.
Back when beauty was power — and you couldn’t just contour your way to confidence with a YouTube tutorial — there was Estée Lauder, blending serums and spinning stories that made women believe they were holding magic in a bottle. And darling, in many ways, they were.
Estée Lauder (née Josephine Esther Mentzer) wasn’t just selling moisturizers — she was bottling ambition, mythologizing skincare, and redefining luxury for women everywhere. And yes, she was doing it decades before “girlboss” was a hashtag.
🌿 Origins (With a Dash of Fiction)
Let’s start with the tale she loved to tell: a Hungarian uncle who taught her the secrets of skin creams in a tiny New York kitchen. Charming? Yes. Verified? Not so much.
There’s little proof this “Uncle” ever existed, but Estée — PR genius that she was — knew that consumers don’t just buy creams, they buy stories.
🧴 Guerilla Marketing Queen
Before influencer seeding, before Sephora samples, Estée invented her own brand of beauty ambush. She’d carry her custom creams in her purse and “accidentally” drop them at upscale salons or apply them mid-conversation. One of her boldest stunts? Walking uninvited into Saks Fifth Avenue, massaging a bystander’s hands with her cream until a crowd formed. Saks begged her to stay.
She didn’t wait for permission — she created demand and walked right into it, heels first.
💋 The Products That Changed Everything
🌹 Youth-Dew (1953)
Before this spicy, musky potion launched, perfume was strictly a male-given gift. Estée dared to ask: What if women bought scent for themselves? Framed as a bath oil (to sneak it into homes), it sold 50,000 bottles in its first year. It turned perfume from privilege into personal power.
✨ Advanced Night Repair (1982)
Before anyone said the word “serum,” Estée was selling one. Packed with hyaluronic acid and cellular repair tech, this iconic brown bottle became a global bestseller. Still is. It was skincare that whispered science without the lab coat.
🖌️ Double Wear Foundation (1997)
24-hour matte coverage, sweat-proof, stress-proof, wedding-day-proof. A staple before transfer-proof was trendy, and still going strong. TikTokers? You’re late to the party.
💄 Impact Beyond the Mirror
Estée Lauder democratized prestige. Before her, fancy beauty was kept behind glass counters or elitist boutiques. She brought it front and center at department stores, making women feel like they belonged at the Chanel-scented table — whether they bought a full set or just a lipstick.
She also gave the world the gift with purchase, now a department store tradition. Because Estée knew: if you touch a woman’s vanity, you touch her soul.
Internally, she kept full creative control. From packaging to ad copy to choosing “aspirational but relatable” models — she ruled the brand like a perfectly manicured monarch.
💥 The Dirt Beneath the Gloss
Let’s not exfoliate the truth too harshly, but yes — her empire wasn’t without its cracks.
- She was famously controlling, and even her son Leonard called her a “difficult genius.”
- The brand was painfully slow to include Black models, waiting until the 1990s to showcase inclusive beauty.
- Family feuds? Oh yes. Her niece Jane started her own line after leaving the company and later described Estée as “exhausting.”
Also… “There are no homely women, only careless women”? That quote didn’t age — it fossilized.
🔥 Competition in the Modern Glam Game
Estée Lauder Companies now owns a beauty dynasty — MAC, Clinique, La Mer, Jo Malone, Tom Ford Beauty, Aveda, The Ordinary and more. Revenues passed $17 billion in 2023. That’s not just relevance — that’s market domination.
But the crown isn’t worn without challenge:
- Fenty Beauty redefined inclusivity and shade ranges.
- Rare Beauty, Glossier, and e.l.f. are capturing Gen Z hearts with authenticity over aspirational gloss.
- Sustainability and clean beauty are now mandatory — something Estée’s more traditional brands are scrambling to catch up on.
Still, even with the glow-up of the modern beauty world, Estée’s playbook remains the gold standard..
💫 Legacy That Still Shimmers
Estée didn’t just sell dreams — she designed them. In a world where men built empires off steel and oil, she built hers off night cream and hope. Her name is now a global symbol, her products cultural milestones, her story… a reminder that brilliance can come in a bottle.
And behind every luxe compact, every wrinkle-smoothing serum, every foundation bottle promising “24 hours of flawless” — there’s a little bit of Estée.
Back when beauty was a battlefield, Estée Lauder marched in with a scent, a serum, and a strategy. And the world? It’s still buying what she started.
💄👑
References
- Estée: A Success Story by Estée Lauder
- The Company I Keep by Leonard Lauder
- Business of Fashion, Allure, Vogue, Bloomberg
- The Cut: “Is Estée Lauder Still Cool?”
- NYT archives on beauty advertising and family dynamics
BACK WHEN WE 